For Factory Records co-founder Alan Erasmus, looking back on the opening of the Hacienda 40 years on is somewhat "bittersweet". Last weekend marked the landmark anniversary of the club, which would go on to "change Manchester and the world" after first opening its doors on May 21, 1982.
It has been a time of reflection and celebration for many - with an anniversary party held back at the original site, now an apartment block, last Saturday night. Meanwhile a new BBC documentary is also being prepared to tell the unique story of how the club came to be built, and it's unique legacy in the cultural world.
But it could all have been so different, explains Alan. He, together with Factory Records' Tony Wilson, Rob Gretton, Martin Hannett and Peter Saville, would have lengthy discussions about the nightclub plans, first mooted back in the early 1980s.
